Supporting kids in pandemic through Positive "PARENTING"....

Pandemic....mere thought of this word  creates a sense of dejection all over as, its third year in a row where the whole world is suffering it's consequences. Not only the person getting infected are it's victims but apart from that I would say, a large section of worlds population is still struggling to get over it sitting at their homes.

It's the most dominant thing right now which has drastically changed the entire world and is continuing to do so.

When everyone is operating from their houses be it jobs or education, it becomes really very important to understand what is going within the family . By saying this I would like to focus on mental state of children in the family and ways to keep their spirits intact like earlier it used to be when there was no such thing like pandemic existed.

With this prolonged period of home quarantine comes along a lot of hidden distress and risks that we often overlook as normally everything seems quite alright to us. Here comes the role of Parents.

Parenting is not atall an easy task as it seems to be. Our elderly people always says that ' you can never understand the love and pain of parents untill you yourself become one'. That's so true... because now when I am a mother of two I can totally relate to it. Raising our kids in a manner to support them physically , socially and economically is all what we already know and have practiced since long but in today's time some additional efforts are required in order to master the parenting skills. I won't call it Perfect parenting as there is nothing called as just perfect rather my idea of parenting would be more real and full of positivity. 

Keep Calm and Carry on:-

Most of the home scenario is like working from home, getting indulged in home schooling curriculums, adapting to new normals, creating new and temporary lifestyles . Things are likely to be more stressful now. Even at a point of time you feel things are getting out of your control, try not to loose your temper and be calm. Suppose if you scold the child, they are likely to be more aggressive and starts yelling without listening to you. This disturbs the whole ambience . It's always better to keep calm at that moment and later make your kids understand their fault.

When-then tool:-

Our kids at home sometimes creates chaotic atmosphere out of their frustration which in today's time is very obvious. It's our thing to handle them afterall we can't expect our children to behave perfectly at all times. Instead of continuously nagging behind our kids to get their work done follow the When-then tool ....

"When you clean your place and put things in trash then you will be able to watch your TV show".

It's as simple as it sounds and believe me works effectively to tackle the situation. Letting out kids determine when they would like to complete their task makes them less demanding. When they do -in their time- , they earn back their previlege.

Glass Half full theory:-

The theory of looking at glass half full instead of half empty is the best theory of optimism we can follow. No one certainly is enjoying this COVID powered roller coaster ride but we certainly need to think what good can come out of this. I know it's easy said than done. Why can't we think of quarantine as an amazing chance of family bonding, time to get creative, catching up with long lost friends and relatives and starting up to do things that we have put off long back?? Just take a moment to think over it and I am sure you will find number of ways to keep yourself busy along with your children as well. Do creative crafts making, home decor, have a group video calls with friends and family, arrange virtual get-together on special occasions etc.

Encouragement:-

Encouraging our kids is the best positive parenting tool to manage with the current situation. 

Kids are mostly disappointed to miss out on their school and college lifes, attending field trips ,celebrating their birthday parties without friends , struggling to remain only at home and so on.

The fact is that none of this is what any of us have ever thought or expected. But the question is What to do afterall?

Just focus on what they are doing right and also appreciate their efforts even when something is not that right. A little time and a few words of encouragement will definately make them feel special. 

Fulfill kids' attention cravings:-

 Has your 3 year old been talking your ear off and yelling loudly specially when you are on phone calls ?

Has your 10 year old misbehaving more than usual?

Is your teenager busy in his/ her own world and not mixing up with family?

Chances are high that your kids are stressed out. This is all because of the time we are living in today. Though we are already spending more and more time at home we need to figure out why they are feeling left out?? And how we can possibly give more attention to them??

In order to feel valued, kids need daily one on one time with us and engange them with what they want to do. It need not to be long hours . A 10 -15 mints chunk of time can also be sufficient.

For young kids playing with them is all what they want and for older kids an in-depth talk can be a great attention for them.

By supporting your kids in this current pandemic situation through positive parenting you and your kids will feel less stressed and a lot more grateful towards life. We all know this quarantine situation is guaranteed to end one day but these parenting tools are here to stay with you forever! 

Hope you all had a great time reading this and I hope this post will definately reach out to all those who are struggling with parenting specially in present time crisis. 

The best kind of parent you can be is to lead by example! 😊👍